My brain broke this afternoon.
I answered The Husband's Skype call from Mexico with this information. After patiently listening to me for a while, he suggested I go for a walk in the park with the dogs to clear my head. I meekly agreed.
He called me back half an hour later. I hadn't gone. He STRONGLY ADVISED I go to the park, and quickly.
Brain still broken (of course), I gathered up the dogs, my purse and my backpack and firmly shut the front door behind me. Which is when I realised that I had locked myself out of the house.
***
Two weeks ago, I locked F and myself out of the house as we began our walk in the park. He scaled the back fence and got stuck in the part we'd blocked off with chickenwire to stop The Evil Dog from escaping. I climbed onto the garage roof and jumped off into the backyard. I let F in through the side gate (he wasn't VERY stuck). We tried all the windows, hoping for an open crack. There was none. We tried jiggling the frames (or at least I did). No luck.
'Mum,' said F solemnly. 'We might have to break a window. Shall I do it?'
'NO!'
After twenty minutes and another search through my backpack, I found the key. Crisis averted.
***
Two weeks later, today, the backpack was well and truly empty apart from my purse. So were my pockets. And I knew, from recent experience, that the house was pretty inpenetrable.
This time, the garage rollerdoor wasn't locked. At least I didn't have to scale any rooves.
I didn't break a window, but I did break down the door.
If you try to break down your door, and the lock quite easily snaps off*, and the now-obviously rotting door-frame crumbles around it ... it means you can get inside. So, it's great news. At first.
But, if you live alone (apart from a seven-year-old) and it's that easy to break your door down ...
can it REALLY be a GOOD thing?
* By the way, I banged the lock back into the door-frame with a hammer and it's seemingly back to normal now, so it's not like I'm COMPLETELY without household security. Just in case you were wondering.
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11 comments:
yes, it's my worst nightmare locking myself out of the house. I had a key hidden for a while, but then that started spooking me a bit, so now I'm just taking my chances that the locksmith will come as quickly as everyone says they do when there's a huge callout fee involved.
You know, when I was little and we lived in a country town and our mothers really did say 'come home when it's dark' we had our back door key under the mat. The back door mat. Were they not the days?
After my own v. expensive lost key/locked out of house incident, I decided against the piercing attachment option, that I seriously contemplated, and now carry a key around in my wallet which I always take with me. I'm in trouble if I lose my wallet (*touch wood*)but it's come in handy otherwise.
Hope your brain is better.
If you are like me and are uniniterested in handbags, lazy about changing them over anyway and as a result carry the same bag for five years at a stretch, just safety-pin a spare key somewhere inside. I locked my keys in the car a couple of times and started doing that with a spare car key because waiting for the RAA ticked me off.
But re the easily-broken door, it might not hurt to get a sturdier lock.
For broken brain syndrome, I recommend the application of vodka and lime. Vitamin C is very good for you, you know ;)
Yeah, I had a key hidden and freaked out and stopped hiding it, too.
Kirsty, since I got back from overseas I've taken to using one of those little crafty bags you hang around your neck on a string as an anti-theft measure as a purse. Just cos I'm used to it now. ANd no, I don't walk around with it around my neck. But it fits a pen AND keys. So good plan.
RC, I am most definitely not a handbag girl. But I AM a backpack/satchel girl and have two I change between, plus the laptop backpack. So maybe the wallet is the plan. You're right about the lock. The Husband was most unimpressed and ordered me to call the landlord immediately. (I said no, because the house is too messy and I don't want him here until I can clean it.) Have no vodka and lime but DO have gin - and maybe tonic, too. Could be a good plan. I think my brain is permanently broken. At least until I get one whole day with no work. Unlikely.
I always end up climbing through windows. The security system in my household is so not cool.
PS: Skype is wonderful! Don't you think it's wonderful you can talk to le man from Mexico, over the internet, FOR FREE?
I'm a satchel girl too. I object to carrying anything that won't take an A4 notebook/envelope/wodge of paper. But the satchel needs replacing and I just don't wanna!
Wow, I've got the best word verification: orsvkinx. I think it sounds like a small and particularly bitey arctic vole.
Rosanna, I used to leave my laundry window open to run the extension cord out the window for the drinks fridge on the back porch. Now that I've stopped the fridge for environmental reasons, my house is safer. TOO SAFE! And yes, I do love Skype. It may be keeping my marriage alive.
By the way, Redcap, is your Bloke off to South Africa yet? And do you Skype? I have the A4 rule, too. And I hate replacing my satchels. I have two 'cos I got one with lots of hidden pockets for the Big Trip, and I need one backpack for the bike.
Yes, he cleared off on Monday morning at sparrow's. Sniff. I do Skype, but mainly for pals in SA. Himself is allowed to make calls home on the work mobile.
Commiserations. I guess that's the difference between people who tracel for study and for work, huh? Paid mobile calls ... that's pretty cool.
Well, they're working him 12 hours a day, so a 10-minute phone call a night is the least they can do. But then he is on an air base that doubles as a wild life sanctuary and they have cheetahs to keep the warthogs down, so swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts.
Hmm, yeah, 12 hour day, 10 minutes ... fair enough!
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